This invention relates to recreational vehicles and a safety device for persons negotiating a vehicle rooftop as may be required to service equipment such as ventilators, fans, antennas and air conditioners, and the like. The rooftops of these so called RV campers and motor homes are not normally intended for human support, although there are those with sun decks, and consequently most such vehicles are devoid of any safety features such as railings. Grab rails as such are low profile and ineffective in preventing a person from falling off the rooftop. Furthermore, when an insecure person ventures atop an RV roof without protective railings, his sense of balance is most likely to be affected and he is apt to misstep and lose his balance. It is this insecure and dangerous situation that this invention addresses and corrects. Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to provide an apparatus for installation on a recreational vehicle rooftop for stabilizing a person standing and/or walking thereon throughout the area of said rooftop.
The human being is an upright creature having a distinctive ability to balance by adjusting the pressures applied at the toe and heel of his two feet. Since the distance ratio between toe-heel support and his height is great, and because his center of gravity is closer to his head, balance becomes critical when a person is in a position to fall from an elevated platform, such as an unprotected rooftop. And, a vehicle of the type under consideration is devoid of any substantial superstructure from which a person might be suspended, nor is the roof structure sturdy enough to withstand any great stress. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide apparatus that gives a person assurance of his balance which is then easily maintained. In actual practice, perfect balance of the human body can be attained with but a small amount of assistance. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide that assistance for the security of the person standing and/or walking upon the RV rooftop.
Recreational vehicles of the type under consideration are provided with roof access ladders, usually installed at the rear of the vehicle, either a right or left side installation, a left side installation being shown. Therefore, this assist apparatus is to be installed to function with respect to either right or left side ladders, it being an object of this invention to make this apparatus reversible without any alteration thereto.
The rooftop structures of recreational vehicles tend to be fragile, since they must be light weight with minimized rafters. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a base member that is adaptable to a light weight roof and variably sized rafters. As will be described, the base member is rigid and of low profile.
The person support member that assists balance of a person is a swinging lever, having a grip that is accessible at the ladder, and which swings upwardly when a person grasps it for stability when ascending onto the rooftop, or which swings downward when descending onto the access ladder. It is therefor an object of this invention to provide means to pivot the lever from a lowered access position to an elevated standing position of the person on the rooftop. And further to provide for effective intermediate positions.
The aforesaid person support member in the form of a swinging lever is also a pivoted lever having a turret means for limited controlled rotation between fore and aft swinging modes. In practice, the turret means revolves between diametrically opposite fore and aft positions, the transition therebetween being accomplished when the support member is vertical. It is an object of this invention to provide turret means for these purposes.
Roadability is an object of this invention, to provide an apparatus that is self sufficient and requires no other fastening or securement other than installing the base onto the rooftop. In practice, stop means is provided to maintain the support member lever clear of the rooftop when it is out of use and in a down position, where it is secured by an over-center spring toggle means.